Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Saturday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $72.62 and last traded at $69.73, with a volume of 14099119 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.31.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.41.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $365,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 202.7% during the first quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 7,864 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.1% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,191,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,054,000 after purchasing an additional 22,960 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 5.2%

The company has a market cap of $68.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $66.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.